This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/119,078, filed Dec. 2, 2008. That application is hereby fully incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to systems which can be used with a mixer-ejector wind turbine. In particular, a ring generator based on a rotor/stator assembly modified to serve as a permanent magnet generator and an ultracapacitor bank for storing the electricity produced are combined with a mixer-ejector wind turbine to produce an efficient power generation system. Methods of making/using such systems are also disclosed.
The generation of electrical power is a very short time based commodity. Essentially, without the ability to store the generated power, it must be used as it is produced. Sophisticated software is utilized by Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO's) to insure minute-to-minute reliable operation of a geographical region's bulk electric power system, providing centrally dispatched direction for the generation and flow of electricity across the region's interstate high-voltage transmission lines and thereby ensuring the constant availability of electricity for the residents and businesses of the area.
Intermittent power sources, such as wind power, produce power at irregular times. The production time of the power may not coincide with demand. It would be desirable to store as much of the power produced by a wind turbine so that it could be utilized at a later time, smoothing out the production and use curves of generated and distributed power.
The ability to store power within the electrical grid provides flexibility to the region's bulk electrical system. A power “accumulator” may be used to increase this flexibility. Currently, this type of power accumulator is a storage device such as a bank of batteries or pumped water storage.
Pumped water storage can require up to 375,000 gallons of water per second, for example as used at by the Niagara Power Project which is part of the New York Power Authority. Such large-scale projects require massive amounts of water and the geological features to use it efficiently to produce power. These features mean that pumped water storage is unlikely to be a practical energy storage method at those locations for optimum wind power production.
Wind turbines usually contain a propeller-like device, termed the “rotor”, which is faced into a moving air stream. As the air hits the rotor, the air produces a force on the rotor in such a manner as to cause the rotor to rotate about its axis. The rotor is connected to either an electricity generator or mechanical device through linkages such as gears, belts, chains or other means. Such turbines are used for generating electricity and powering batteries. They are also used to drive rotating pumps and/or moving machine parts. It is very common to find wind turbines in large electricity generating “wind farms” containing multiple such turbines in a geometric pattern designed to allow maximum power extraction with minimal impact of each such turbine on one another and/or the surrounding environment.
The ability of a rotor to convert fluid power to rotating power, when placed in a stream of very large width compared to its diameter, is limited by the well documented theoretical value of 59.3% of the oncoming stream's power, known as the “Betz” limit as documented by A. Betz in 1926. This productivity limit applies especially to the traditional three-bladed axial wind turbine.
It would be desirable to provide power generation systems and power storage systems suitable for use with wind turbines.